Punch Would Definitely Be Served At Fantasy Fund-raiser

Opinion - MUDDY WATERS

It was a Friday afternoon and the cafeteria at Eustis Middle School was jammed to capacity.

Outside, it was beginning to sprinkle as youngsters waited their turn to file inside for lunch.

The cafeteria is too small to accommodate all of the eighth-grade class at one sitting, so some remain outside while the early-birds finish eating.

As a result, there is a wild scramble to be first in line when the lunch bell rings.

Although the noise from the constant chattering of excited youngsters discussing weekend plans with their classmates was, at times, deafening, the atmosphere was friendly and nonthreatening.

Principal Charles McDaniel occasionally had to raise an eyebrow at would-be cafeteria line-cutters. (French fries were on the menu and that can drive the kids a little wild, he said.)

While the energy level was high, the kids were well-behaved and cheerful.

Perhaps they didn't realize Lake County schools have been tagged as among the most violent in the state.

Whatever the statistics show, this particular day there was no blood or bruises to report.

Nobody started a food fight; no one that I could see even shot a pea from his nose - activities I remember my middle school classmates would rarely pass up.

As they finished eating, the students at Eustis Middle trickled outside to a small enclosed field where they waited for classes to resume.

Outside, McDaniel admonished a few to turn over their illegal candy or pull up their pants. Low-riding pants as a fashion statement among middle school students is a particular peeve of his.

McDaniel and his staff do keep an eagle eye on their little charges.

The seventh-graders are the squirreliest, he said. They take on different personalities almost daily to see which one fits them best.

It is a time of growth and change as hormones run rampant.

For teachers and staff it's a constant challenge.

But it is not quite the Blackboard Jungle at Eustis Middle, and teachers aren't yet outfitted in flak jackets and helmets.

Despite the rhetoric about violence in schools and the occasional angry incident - the energy level at Eustis Middle is still playful in nature.

And that's the way it should be.

Certainly, the middle school youngsters seemed to be peaceful couch potatoes compared to some of their adult counterparts.

Just look at the fisticuffs that Leesburg City Commissioner Bob Lovell and B.G. Floyd, father of City Commissioner Chris Floyd, engaged in last week in the parking lot of Office Depot.

As amazed onlookers watched, the two grown men spat on each other and traded blows.

Floyd described it as a ''friendly thing.''

Right.

Earlier this year there was a report of jostling between longtime antagonists County Commissioner Richard Swartz and Lake County Property Appraiser Ed Havill at a political function.

It is senseless to have adults make a spectacle of themselves with impromptu sparring bouts while our underfunded schools gain an increasing reputation for violence.

Why have a fistfight between community leaders in a business parking lot, when they instead could settle their differences in a public forum and raise much-needed money for our schools at the same time?

I suggest holding a series of tough man/wrestling grudge matches in the schools to raise money for education.

I'll bet it would be hugely popular with both kids and their parents.

Who wouldn't pay to see Lovell and Floyd go at it again?

Or to watch a tag-team wrestling match pitting environmentalist Commissioners Bill Good and Rhonda Gerber against pro-growth Commissioners Catherine Hanson and Welton Cadwell?

Havill or Lake County Sheriff George Knupp could take on the winner in a no-holds barred competition.

Middle school kids with disciplinary problems could judge the action just to make sure no one pulled any punches.

If public officials are going to get physical anyway, why not do it in a forum that will benefit the community?

Who knows, it might become successful enough to become a pay-per-view event on local cable television.

Maybe we could do without elections entirely and just stage winner-take-all brawls for public office every four years.

If nothing else, the fights might act as a physical release for both public officials and students alike.

Anything that would reduce the violence in the schools and among public servants would be welcome, indeed.